Small group activities? (SGA)
What are small group activities?
The Small group activities (i.e. special teams of employees, ranging from 5, up to 7 people) are responsible for improving company processes and creating innovation. These groups can be multifunctional, i.e. composed of employees from various departments. They are partly autonomous; members of the teams have an influence on the choice of issues they deal with as part of their work. The corporate “Problem Solving” approach is based on the so-called “QC Story” methodology, i.e. 9 stages including, among others, proper definition of the subject, setting the goal, extensive analysis up until implementation and standardization of a new solution. The entire work of the Quality Circle is based on the Deming cycle, i.e. PDCA (Planning, Doing, Checking, Acting – Standardisation). The Small group activities System at our company has been gradually developed since the beginning of production in 2005. This activity brings many benefits to the company, both financially (cost savings, quality improvement, increasing productivity by eliminating losses, etc.) as well as non-financially (in terms of health and safety, environmental protection, improvement of work ergonomics, CSR, etc.).
In the Polish branch, over 100 teams carry out projects each year.
At each Sanden site in all 23 countries, Small group activities competitions are held twice a year and the best teams take part in Continental Conventions once a year. The winners compete in the annual World Convention held in Japan or in other companies that have achieved a high level of continuous improvement. The fact that the World Convention was held in Poland in 2017 (for the first time in the history) is a proof of recognition of the high level of the Polkowice facility. The World Convention, which takes the form of a competition, selects the best design from all the Small group activities in Sanden Corporation. The World Convention was attended by representatives of research and development centres located in friendly companies (from various industries) which we cooperate with.
